Family of man fatally shot by LAPD releases body cam video

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. (FOX 11) - More than two years after the officer-involved shooting of Omar Gonzalez, the attorneys representing his estate have permission to show the body-camera footage of the incident.

“It took a lot of work,” said Luis Carrillo. Carrillo and Humberto Guizar represent families that are pursuing litigation against Los Angeles Police Department.

“He had no chance to comply,” Carrillo said of Gonzalez. “No commands were given,” he added of the officer’s actions.

The incident took place in July of 2016. Carrillo said his client was the passenger in a car that police were pursuing. At some point, Gonzalez jumped from the car and police pursued him on foot. His attorney wouldn’t speculate why Gonzalez ran in the first place but did mention he did not have any outstanding warrants at the time.

Carrillo says Gonzalez did have a gun, but that the body camera shows the gun was too far away, in fact, on the other side of a fence at the time when officers fired a shot.

“All I wanted was justice,” said Gonzalez’s ex-wife, Zoila Gutierrez. “He was a great man, a great person.”

Reaching out to LAPD Thursday morning, a spokesperson said the Department doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but did say it’s not out of the ordinary to have an officer that was involved in a shooting to be back on patrol within two weeks. First, officers must past a psychological evaluation. Officer Medina, involved in both shootings, was involved in the shooting of Jesse Romero the following week.

“Why do you let him on patrol and twelve days later, he kills a 14-year-old?” Carrillo added.